Austria's lifting of restrictions on labor from Hungary to have little impact

MTI – Econews

Friday, February 25, 2011, 15:30

A wave of Hungarians workers is not expected to flow into Austria when the country lifts the last remaining restrictions on labor from some new EU member states, Hungary's state secretary for employment Sándor Czomba said at a conference in Vienna on Friday.

On May 1, Austria and Germany will lift all remaining restrictions on workforce from states that joined the EU in 2004.

Only 70,000-80,000 Hungarians currently work in the EU-15, Czomba said. About 26,000 work in Austria, accounting for 6pc of all foreign workers there, he added.

The number of workers in Austria from states that joined the EU in the first wave of accession rose from 43,000 to more than 80,000 between 2004 and 2010, but fell to 76,000 in 2009.

Luxembourg supports Austriaʼs case against the upgrade of Hungaryʼs Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Luxembourgʼs Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg was cited as saying by Hungarian news agency MTI on the sidelines of a summit of EU environment ministers in Brussels Monday.

Austria said on Monday it plans to sue the European Commission at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for allowing Hungary to expand its Paks Nuclear Power Plant, according to reports. The Austrian government will ask the court to annul the ECʼs resolution approving the expansion.

The number of Hungarians working abroad is about 300,000, with most of them working in Austria. Compared to neighboring countries, this is a low number, Piroska Szalai, advisor at the Ministry of National Economy told daily Magyar Idők.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has reacted to the election victory of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) on Sunday by sending a letter of congratulation to Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian foreign minister and head of the ÖVP, Bertalan Havasi, the PMʼs press chief, told state news wire MTI on Monday.

Austriaʼs Erste Group booked net income of EUR 95 million at its business in Hungary in the first half, down 6% year-on-year, shows an earnings report released Friday, according to state news wire MTI.

Austrian-owned building materials company Leier Hungária is investing HUF 7 billion at six plants in Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference on Friday in Budapest.

Hungarian automotive manufacturer Rába has signed a EUR 10 million contract with the Austrian subsidiary of Munich-based Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) on delivering welded vehicle parts to the Austrian firm for a period of four years, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

Hungary and Austria yesterday launched a EUR 12.7 million cross-border project that will improve passenger rail service around Lake Neusiedl, on the border between the two countries, according to Hungarian news agency MTI.